


Labor of the Future

by KohnSmith



Series: Labor of the Future [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, F/M, M/M, Politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:49:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29953662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KohnSmith/pseuds/KohnSmith
Summary: A political story about the fictional country of Centralia which is off the Western Coast of Europe.  Set in 1930, the story revolves around Kristopher Frost, a young MP for the relatively New Labor Party.  For years, Centralia's political scene has been dominated by competition between the Conservative and Liberal Parties.  Founded in 1894, Labor was made to provide a Socialist, pro-worker alternative to the two parties.  However, it didn't find election success until the 1929 elections, where it won a plurality, but not majority of the votes.  This was followed by the Conservatives and Liberals announcing a national unity coalition, which effectively shut Labor out of control.  The future of Labor looks bright, except for a few problems.  Largest of them all is Conrad Fox, co-leader of Labor and one of it's founders.  Accused of corruption by Frost, it seems likely that he could do something extremely stupid in the coming years.
Series: Labor of the Future [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2203005





	Labor of the Future

The House of Parliament was eerily silent as Kristopher Frost left the stand. A rare respite from the endless chattering, commenting, and snide remarks made by the various MPs as debate and talks went on throughout the day. However, all that had ceased and all eyes that weren’t cast down in shame were focused on Kristopher Frost.  
Frost himself was, as his name would suggest, staring coldly at the gathered MPs, many of whom shuffled in their seats in shame. He was a young man, only 25, one of the youngest in the House, and a year fresh from University when he’d been elected to Parliament for the Labor Party. His constituency, West-Central Vanya, was just a few blocks from where the House of Parliament stood.  
The young man, carrying a case of papers, took his seat in the second bench, right behind Conrad Fox, co-leader and on the founders of the Labor Party. Conrad Fox was also one of the 25 men who Frost had directly implicated in a corruption scandal that involved the covering up of corruption and embezzlement within the major parties. Dubbed the Zora report, it ultimately would implicate roughly half of the Conservative and Liberal Party MPs, as well as a good third of the Labor MPs. But for now, it only implicated Fox and a few Conservative MPs, as well as contained a declaration of intent to investigate more. Not even Frost knew how far-reaching the report would go on to be.  
For now, Kristopher bored holes in the back of his superior’s head as the Speaker called the session to a close. As soon as the Speaker was done, noisy conversation sprung up in the House as MPs discussed the day’s events and shuffled out of the chamber. Kristopher, for his part, was the first one out the door. Despite his aloof demeanor, Kristopher preferred to avoid confrontation, and after an exhausting and terrifying day, he just wanted to return to his townhome and fall asleep by the fire.  
As he exited onto the snowy steps of Parliament, wrapping his scarf tight around his neck, Frost felt someone grab his shoulder. He turned to see Phillip Holt, a fellow Labor MP, who looked as though he was stifling a laugh. “You know, Kristopher,” Phillip began, “if you had stopped to talk to me before that, I wouldn’t have to tell you this now.”  
Kristopher sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “Get it out with Phillip, I’m late for an appointment.” That was a lie, Kristopher didn’t have any appointments, in fact, his schedule was completely clear for the entire weekend.  
Phillip chuckled knowingly. “I’m sure you are.” He reached into his coat pocket and produced a folded newspaper, which he tucked between in Kristopher’s case. “That,” he said, referring to the paper, “is today’s Vanya Times. Definitely worth a read.”  
“Just give me a summary.” Kristopher pleaded tiredly. The snow was starting to come down harder.  
Phillip began walking down the steps, in the direction of Kristopher’s townhouse and the train station to Phillip’s house. “They’re calling you the Ice King.”  
“What?”  
“They’re calling you the Ice King.” Kristopher could hear the laughs Phillip had been suppressing bubble up to the surface in his words.  
“Why?” Kristopher asked, before following it up with the better question, “Do I even want to know?”  
“Ah, but, my friend, it’s so clever.” Phillip explained. “You see, the ‘King’ part comes from your republican sympathies, a bit of irony. It also comes from your now undisputed place as the face of the Labor party.”  
“What?” Kristopher sputtered. “No, that’s not right.”  
Phillip scoffed. “I didn’t say Labor leader, just face. A bit prophetic on their part, I’ll admit, but you’ve been steadily attracting media attention. Firstly, you’re young, attractive, and you flip a deep blue seat.”  
“A seat that was only deep blue because there was one polling station before I came, and it was located in Lord White’s townhome.” Lord White had been the previous MP from West-Central Vanya. He’d also been the richest man in the district, a feat that had been very much connected to his political achievements. “It was hardly a feat.”  
Phillip shrugged. “You still did it. And today, thought they couldn’t have known, you just overtook Fox, who was only popular because he was a Minister. Also contained was speculation he’d create his own splinter party, compete with the more progressive elements of Labor. I think there’s a good chance he does that now, at the very least to save face.”  
“Ridiculous. He’d never.” A splinter party from Labor would kill either party’s chance of getting into government. Even a 5% vote siphoning would flip dozens of Labor seats back to the Conservatives or Liberals. “Even if he did, who would he coalition with, the Liberals? The Conservatives?” Frost joked.  
“People have done crazier things. You just accused one of the founders of your party of corruption. That’s pretty mad.”  
Kristopher looked around the street before crossing. “Yes, I suppose I did and I suppose I am.” He said wearily.  
Phillip continued. “The rest of the name, Ice, comes from-”  
“My name. Kristopher Frost. Very original.” Kristopher interjected.  
“Actually, only partly.”  
“Oh?” Kristopher was surprised. Most jokes about his name were surface level.  
“Yes, it’s a combination of your cold demeanor in Parliament.”  
“Ah.”  
“Which really makes me think that they should be calling you the Awkward King but-”  
“Oh, shut up.”  
“It also references your romantic history.”  
Kristopher stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the other man. Though they were similar heights, Kristopher was just a couple inches taller than Phillip, and now, he seemed to tower over the man. “My what?”  
Phillip chuckled uneasily and brushed past Kristopher, heading toward the entrance to the train station. “There’s a particularly interesting quote from a ‘Louise Jacobs.’ About how unceremoniously you dumped her after a year of dating. ‘Callous bastard,’ she called you”  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Do you think this will affect my career at all?” He paused, thinking. “Do you think it could sink the credibility of the accusations?” He asked nervously.  
Phillip walked over to him and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “I doubt it. Considering how short an attention span the media and public have, I doubt this will shake out to much. Also considering how the sum of all the illegitimate sons and daughters Parliamentarians have could form an army, I doubt a few bad breakups will hurt you.”  
“I hope not.” Phillip smiled slightly and walked down into the station, leaving Kristopher alone.  
Kristopher sighed and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. It was just a few blocks to his house, but the wind chilled his bones to such a degree that it felt like an eternity.


End file.
